All right, we're here in the book of Obadiah, and this is, as far as I know, the only book
in the Old Testament that's only one chapter.
There's not too many books in the entire Bible, but it's my favorite book that is one chapter
in the Bible.
I've actually preached a sermon on it back when I was in guest preaching for Pastor Bruce
Mejia, and the book of Obadiah is an awesome book.
And so my main goal today is that you're going to walk away and say, I know what that book's
about.
It's a very interesting book, and when we're looking at minor prophets, we need to understand
that even if we don't understand all of the information, there is always a lot of information
on the surface that we can still apply, even if you don't understand all the end times
symbolism.
Look, I promise you, all of the minor prophets and the book of Revelation and Daniel, once
the end times actually happen, all of a sudden it's going to be like the light bulb.
Wow, I didn't realize I was talking about that, but there's still a lot of great information
because all of the Bible is profitable, it says, for doctrine, for proof.
That's what the Bible teaches, so we can learn here tonight.
Obadiah chapter 1, verse 1, the vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God concerning
Edom.
We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador has sinned among the heathen, arise
he and let us rise up against her in battle.
So the first thing we see here is thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom.
This book is about the destruction of Edom, and we need to ask ourselves this question,
what is Edom?
Turn back to Genesis chapter 36, and the Bible defines itself so we can figure out exactly
what this is, and you have to understand that Edom was destroyed, so in our modern day,
this is not a country that's around today.
It was destroyed, so we have to go back to the Bible and find out what was this place.
And Genesis chapter 36 makes it very, very clear.
And sometimes, as we're going to see in Genesis 36, God is very repetitive because He's trying
to drive home a point.
And in Genesis 36 verse 1, it says, Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
The generations of Esau, that is what Edom is.
Edom is the lineage of Esau.
Look at verse number 8, Genesis 36 verse 8.
Thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir, Esau is Edom.
And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
Look at verse number 43, Genesis 36 verse 43.
Duke Magdiel, Duke Eram, these be the dukes of Edom according to their habitations in
the land of their possession.
He is Esau, the father of the Edomites, okay?
And so this point is being driven home in Genesis 36 that Esau is Edom, okay?
But when we're talking about Edom, we're not really talking about the man Esau.
We're talking about the lineage that came from Esau, okay?
Now this is very important because a lot of false doctrines have arisen because they don't
understand who Edom is.
Now turn to Malachi 1, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 1, Malachi
chapter 1.
And so we know that Jacob is Israel, okay?
And Esau is Edom.
And it's often going to mention Israel and Edom.
It doesn't mean that it's referring to the individuals, it's referring to the nations,
the lineage oftentimes.
And the lineage that came from Jacob was godly, the lineage that came from Esau was ungodly,
the Edomites.
Malachi chapter 1 verse 2, Malachi chapter 1 verse 2.
I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet you say, Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord?
Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for
the dragons of the wilderness, okay?
It says here in verse 3 that he hated Esau.
But you have to understand as he's talking about the mountains of Esau, it's not talking
about the man Esau, okay?
It's talking about the lineage coming from Jacob, and it's talking about the lineage
coming from Esau, the Edomites, and it's referring to the Israelites.
The Edomites were wicked, okay?
Verse number 4, whereas Edom saith.
So notice verse 3, it's saying Esau, but now in verse 4 it says Edom.
Edom is referencing the lineage, the generations that are coming from Esau.
Whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places.
And so Edom is saying the people that came from Esau, we've been destroyed by the Lord,
we are desolate, we're a desolation, but we are going to come and we're going to build
back those places.
See, Edom used to be a powerful country, it's not around today, and when they got destroyed
the lineage said, we're going to rebuild this place.
But notice what the Bible says here in verse 4.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down.
You can spend all the money, all the time in the world rebuilding your kingdom, and
I'm going to throw down every brick and destroy it.
That's what God's saying.
He's saying Edom is not being rebuilt.
So the Edomites that were left said, we're going to rebuild this place.
And God says, no, why?
Because they were wicked.
They shall build, but I will throw down.
And they shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath
indignation forever.
And they were known as the people during that day, God hates these people.
They would be known as the border of wickedness and God has indignation against these people.
If you were to ask God's people during that day, what does God think about Edom?
They would all say he hates them.
He destroyed them because they're wicked and we're going to see here in Obadiah that they're
also very prideful.
Now turn to Romans 9, Romans chapter 9, and look, I know we're just in the first verse.
This is going to be a long sermon.
On Christmas, this Sunday, the second sermon is going to be intentionally a little bit
shorter.
We can have time for fellowship, but I've got to make up for it being 15 minutes shorter.
And so I'm making up for it tonight.
And so we're here in Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 9.
And so it's important for us to understand that when it's talking about Edom, it's referencing
the lineage of Esau.
And you have to realize sometimes Esau is mentioned in the Bible.
It's not referring to the man Esau.
It's referring to the lineage.
And it's very important here in Romans chapter 9, because remember we saw that it mentioned
in Malachi, it mentions Esau and Edom interchangeably, but it's referring to the country.
It's referring to the lineage.
It's not referring to literally Esau.
It says in Romans 9 verse 11, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth.
Now whenever you see this word elect, you know that the Calvinists and the Zionists
are going to go crazy with this.
They go crazy when it says elect.
Verse 12, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
And so this phrase, Esau have I hated, what you've seen, for one, the Calvinists love
this phrase.
And they say before they were born, God just decided he hated that baby in the womb Esau.
That's what Calvinists teach.
Because they say before they were born, God hated Esau and he predestined him to burn
in hell.
I'm sorry, but that's a wicked God that they serve.
That you can look at some baby and say God just wants that baby Esau to die and burn
in hell.
That is what the Calvinists believe, though.
That's what they teach, that God just randomly picks people.
You're born and they say, Brother Ehrman, I've decided you get to go to heaven.
But you know what?
I really want to see Brother Dustin burn.
Or not Brother Dustin, because if he wants them to burn in hell, you know, he's not going
to be brother.
I mean, isn't that ridiculous?
And that's the God the Calvinists serve.
Isn't it amazing, though?
Every Calvinist believes that they've been chosen.
Show me an exception to that.
It's like if somebody rises up and says, I'm a hardcore Calvinist and God chose me to go
to hell.
I'd be like, you know, at least you're having some integrity to admit, you know, because
everyone says, you know, I'm one of the ones that's chosen if they believe in Calvinism.
It's ridiculous.
It's heresy.
And they're taking this phrase, Esau, have I hated?
How do we disprove that?
It's not referring to this little baby, okay?
Because it's said in verse 11, being not yet born.
So what they say is, see, before Esau was born, God just hated Esau.
That's what they teach, okay?
But it's not referring to the man Esau.
It's referring to the country, okay?
Calvinists also go crazy when you see election, and then they say, well, God just from the
beginning just determined he just hated Esau because we're God's chosen people.
That's what the Zionists say.
They go crazy with these verses.
Verses 9 through chapter 11, the Zionists, the Calvinists, all these false heretical
churches and belief systems, they go crazy with these verses, okay?
But you have to understand, Esau is just referring to Edom here, okay?
It's the lineage.
He's not saying, I hated this man Esau, okay?
What it's really saying here is, I loved God's people, I hated the enemies of the Lord.
That's what he's saying.
Because Esau gets destroyed because it was a country full of wicked people that hated
God, the lineage, the Edomites.
So what he's saying is, I hate reprobates, I hate wicked nations, but I love people that
love the Lord, people that are soul winners, people that serve God.
What he's saying to our modern day applying this to us, he loves us and he hates the pedophiles.
That's what he's saying.
He loves God's people.
Jacob have I loved, that's referring to us, God's people, okay?
This is a spiritual thing, this is not a physical.
He uses the nations as symbolism to represent something, to help us understand something.
Now when it comes to the man Esau, the Bible doesn't really say whether he was saved or
not.
I'm not dogmatic either way.
Honestly, in the Old Testament, there's a lot of different characters and you don't
know whether they're saved or not.
I've heard good people say that King Ahab was saved and some say he was a reprobate.
It's like, was he a good person who did a lot of wicked things?
I mean, he was married to Jezebel, so I mean, I guess if your wife is Jezebel, then you're
probably going to do wicked things and it's like the Bible doesn't tell us this person
was saved, okay?
Like in the Old Testament, I don't know whether Esau was saved or not, but what I do know
is his lineage was very wicked.
You had two brothers and one brother, even though Jacob made a lot of mistakes, he went
down the right road, the right lineage, renamed Israel, whereas the lineage of Esau became
wicked devils and God destroyed his lineage, the Edomites.
I'll turn back to Obadiah 1, Obadiah 1, and so what we're talking about in the book of
Obadiah, we are talking about the destruction of the lineage of Esau.
We're talking about the destruction of Edom, and the Bible is going to give us insight
on why they were destroyed, what he hated about them, and as we saw in Malachi, it's
very clear they could try to rebuild themselves, but when God has made his decision, it's final,
okay?
When God laid down the hammer and destroyed them, he said, they can build?
I'm going to throw it down.
They can do whatever they want, and look, you know, we could just donate $10 million
to help them build, and it doesn't matter.
God could send some earthquake, he could send some fire, he could send whatever.
He was going to destroy them.
They were not being rebuilt.
Obadiah 1, verse 1, it said, the vision of Obadiah thus saith the Lord concerning Edom,
we have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador has sent among the heathen, arise
ye, and let us, let us rise up against her in battle.
And so what it's saying is, let us, it's saying there's Edom here, and let us rise against
Edom in battle, okay?
So in verse 1, let us, it's not referring to Edom, let us rise up against her in battle.
This is important because in verse 2, it's going to change the group that it's talking
about.
Verse 2, behold, I have made thee small among the heathen, thou are greatly despised.
What he's saying is this, remember, in the book of Malachi, they're known as the border
of wickedness, and what he's saying is to God's people, let us rise up in battle against
Edom, and I've made thee, Edom, very small among the heathen.
This was a powerful country, and he made them a laughing stock.
He made them a joke.
He made them an embarrassment, and he says, let us rise up against her in battle.
Boy, she was big and mighty.
She used to mock God's people and push them around, and yet God made her small among the
heathen.
She's despised.
Everybody hated Edom.
They rejected Edom.
This was a country that was loved so much, and look, throughout human history, every
country that becomes very powerful, we've preached about Assyria before.
These countries become powerful.
They look like they can't be touched, and then they're gone overnight, and look, one
day, the United States of America, overnight, it's going to be destroyed.
You say, that is not possible.
It's going to happen.
It's going to eventually happen.
Why?
Because when a country becomes wicked, this is the way God deals with it, and honestly,
I think God allows this to happen.
He allows them to become very powerful, because from the outside standpoint, there's no way
the United States could ever be destroyed.
I mean, logically, it doesn't seem to make sense, does it, but Babylon was destroyed.
Assyria was destroyed.
All these mighty empires get destroyed.
Edom wasn't as powerful as Babylon or Assyria, but Edom became powerful, but they became
very arrogant with the power that they had, and they were destroyed.
So he says, I've made thee small among the heathen.
Thou art greatly despised.
And look, you know, there's people out there that are very famous and well respected and
loved, and then overnight, they become a laughing stock, and people hate them.
A great example is Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson was very famous 30 years ago, I mean, even 10 years ago.
Everybody loved Michael Jackson.
He sold all these albums, the greatest dancer ever, blah, blah, blah, and anybody who had
any common sense would have realized he was a pedophile two decades ago.
But then just recently, in the last year, it became known as a fact, because tons of
people said, yes, he molested me, yes, he molested me, yes, he molested me, all these
people that were afraid to say it, and Michael Jackson's a laughing stock now.
There are actually places that refuse to play his music anymore.
When he was young, you know, Michael Jackson was very famous, and he was on the Oprah Winfrey
show a lot.
Oprah Winfrey loved Michael Jackson.
You know, Oprah Winfrey, she's known here, you guys know Oprah, she's like very famous.
So she was known by, he was known by Oprah and always on there and everything, and on
the Oprah show, she basically was criticizing Michael Jackson.
Look, when Oprah is looking down on you for being wicked, you know there's something wrong.
And Michael Jackson used to be so well liked, and now he's a joke.
He's a laughing stock.
They make jokes about him.
Why?
Because they go from being very powerful and brought to nothing overnight, okay?
And it doesn't just happen with countries.
I believe with people that are famous and powerful and CEOs, they go from being very
powerful to being nothing overnight.
It happens all the time.
Verse number three, why did they get destroyed?
Verse three, the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.
Thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his
heart, who shall bring me down to the ground?
And so you see this word in verse three, the pride of thine heart.
And let me tell you something, it doesn't matter whether you're saved or unsaved.
You get filled full of pride, you will be destroyed.
It doesn't matter how great of a soul you are, how many times you've read the Bible.
You get filled with pride, you will be destroyed.
And that is the reason, the main reason God brings down Eden.
Eden was full of pride, and we're going to see in this chapter, then they were very wicked.
Now Obadiah is actually parallel to a section of scripture in Jeremiah 49.
Turn to Jeremiah 49, Jeremiah 49, Jeremiah chapter 49.
And you know, we would all do well to look at the examples in the Bible of people that
were very powerful and countries that were very powerful that seemed like they can't
be destroyed, because if that could happen to them, the same thing could happen to any
one of us if we get filled full of pride as well.
Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 16, Jeremiah 49 verse 16, and I want to show you that this
is parallel to Obadiah, and we're going to be basically mainly in Obadiah tonight.
We will go to Jeremiah a few times though, but I want you to notice that thy terribleness
hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, it's referring to Eden, the pride of
thine heart, O that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the
hill, though thou shouldest make thy nest as the eagle, I will bring thee down from
thin, saith the Lord.
Now what it said in the book of Obadiah was, whose habitation is high, okay?
Whose habitation is high, where they live was high.
What it says here is, though thou holdest, thou, that holdest the height of the hill,
okay?
So in Obadiah what it said is your habitation is high.
Here it's saying they hold the height of the hill, okay?
Seems to indicate that they basically are in the mountains, okay?
And they're basically up high in the tall position.
Now I want you to realize when Jonathan went to battle, remember he said that, you know
what, if they come down to us, we'll fight them, but if they call us up, you know we're
going to fight them.
Basically either way.
And the reason why the Philistines were confident is because they had the higher ground.
When you hold the height of the hill, you're at an advantage, okay?
If I was fighting in a sword fight against Brother Prince and I'm crawling up a mountain
to get to him, he has a big advantage.
He holds the height of the hill, okay?
And these people, and you have to understand when we're talking about the countries that
get destroyed, you know, if you hold the height of the hill, nobody's going to come and destroy
you or fight you because you have a huge advantage being at a higher position.
And yet, even though they held the height of the hill, even though their habitation
was high, they were still destroyed.
Turn back to Obadiah.
Kind of a modern day example, and I've said this before, my wife and I watched a documentary
and it was on a major tsunami that happened in Japan, and at the beginning they're talking
to all these scientific and mathematical experts in Japan, and they say, our buildings are
tsunami proof.
There's like, it is impossible, it is impossible that we could be destroyed.
And you know, you hear that, you're thinking, man, how arrogant is that, right?
But around the world, we're filled with godless and wicked countries, and I'll tell you what,
our country here in the Philippines is by no means a godly country.
And I think that's one of the big myths about the Philippines is that this is a godly country
somehow.
It's like, well, why do we see so many guys walking around wearing dresses if it's such
a godly country?
This is not a godly country.
And I'll tell you what, around the world we're filled with a bunch of wicked countries, but
this is exactly what you're seeing with Edom.
They became prideful and they're destroyed.
And honestly, I believe that the reason why the tsunami destroyed them was because of
the arrogance of Japan, and God just sent that.
And not just there, other countries around the world, they have these natural disasters
that kill a couple hundred thousand people, and I think it's really because they become
arrogant and wicked and God destroys them.
My personal opinion is that Mount Pinatubo was sent by God due to all the Catholic practices
because it was right around when they're crucifying themselves, and I believe God was angry at
it.
He was mad at it.
We're fortunate as a country that there weren't just tons of people killed, but everyone who
lived in Pampanga, they were all out of their homes for a long time period.
It got rebuilt, but it's like God gave them another chance, but it's like, why don't you
quit crucifying yourselves on Magdarame every year, and then otherwise, who knows what's
going to happen to you?
Obadiah chapter one, verse four, though thou exalt thyself as the...
Actually, go back to verse three.
I want to highlight a few things.
It says, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, if you dwell in the clefts of
the rock, who's going to come and try to take you down?
Whose habitation is high?
They've got the high ground.
They say in their heart, who shall bring me down to the ground?
What they're saying as a country is, we're too powerful to be destroyed.
This is referring to a country, but also the individuals in that country having the same
attitude.
Look at how powerful I am.
I've got $20 million in my bank account.
Who shall bring me down to the ground?
I've got the biggest church in the world.
Who's going to bring me down to the ground?
I'm such a powerful person.
Who's going to bring me down to the ground?
That's the attitude they had.
Verse four, though thou exalt thyself as the eagle.
Notice how it says in verse four, they exalted themselves.
God didn't exalt them.
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle.
Now, he's given an example here.
He's like, you're in a high position, even if you exalted yourself as an eagle.
Why is it significant that it says an eagle?
Because when you look at birds, eagles are the bird that when you see them, they just
kind of glide around effortlessly.
They don't even have to try, and they're just flying very effortlessly.
That's one thing that they're known as, as birds, and they just kind of fly through the
air.
The Bible uses the word eagle several times to explain this to us, but basically they
just kind of fly effortlessly through the air, just majestically and beautifully.
It's like, even if you exalt yourself as an eagle, and eagles can fly and fly and fly
and never get tired, even if you exalt yourself as an eagle, it's like God can still bring
you down.
That's what he's saying.
And so he's saying, hey, you can put a nest on the stars.
I'm still coming down and destroying you.
Now exalting yourself as an eagle, that's a pretty strong expression because they fly
effortlessly for a long time, but he's saying, even if you put your nest, your home, even
where you're sleeping at night is amongst the stars, I'm going to come up there and
take you down.
That's an extreme statement by God here, and that shows you that it does not matter how
powerful you are.
You could literally be King Nebuchadnezzar, the richest, most powerful man in the world,
and you can be vol-you overnight, you can be crazy overnight.
Why?
Because if you become arrogant, I have built Babylon, then God will bring you down.
On to Isaiah 14, Isaiah chapter 14.
You know, here's the thing about pride, though.
Why pride is so dangerous is because when a person is prideful, everybody knows it except
one person, the person who's prideful.
Isn't that true?
If somebody is prideful, if somebody at our church became extremely prideful, every single
person at the church would think that person was prideful.
They would know they were prideful.
It would come out of their mouth, the way they act, the way they walk, the way everything
they do.
You could just tell they're full of pride, but they're the one person who's not aware
of it.
That's why it's such a dangerous thing, and look, you know, honestly, and I'm not saying
you should do this, but if somebody tells you at church one time or family member, you're
getting kind of arrogant, honestly, that should be a reality check to you.
It says, maybe I need to change something, okay?
The reality is that when somebody's prideful or bitter or they have various problems in
their life, they never see it.
It always goes straight over their head.
You say, how do you backslide and go from loving the Lord to being some wicked person
who commits some wicked sin, who gets out of church?
Here's the thing.
It's very, it's small and it slowly adds up and you never see it.
It's like, you know, maybe there's a reason why you used to read the Bible for an hour
every day and now you just don't have time, but you have time to watch Facebook.
You can get on Facebook.
You have time to go on YouTube, and yet you never find time to read the Bible.
It's nobody's fault except your own.
There's a reason.
And when you're seeing things like that in your life, you need to make a change immediately.
Now the most arrogant person or the most arrogant one who's ever lived was the devil, okay?
Nobody exalted themselves higher than the devil.
Notice what it says in Isaiah 14, verse 12.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations?
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven.
Now this is important because remember the Bible said, no man hath ascended to heaven
but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven.
See basically ascend means to go in your own power.
And even though people went to heaven in the Old Testament, they did not ascend to heaven,
okay?
But the Lord Jesus Christ, he did ascend to heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
Okay.
Put your nest up there in the stars or above the stars of God, you're still coming down.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.
And notice how he said this is happening in his heart.
In his heart is when it takes place.
This is why it's so dangerous because things start in the heart.
And when we actually see the problem and it's evident to everybody, you know, it's already
too late for that person usually.
See when it starts in the heart, it can start to build up and somebody can backside and
backside and backside and get prideful and prideful and prideful or bitter and bitter
and bitter and you don't necessarily see it immediately because it happens in the heart.
That's why you need to be very careful that you cleanse the inside and not just that on
the outside, I come soul winning every week.
I come to church every service.
Make sure you're clean on the inside, okay?
Otherwise it's going to lead to major problems in your life.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will be like the most high.
I will be like God.
Just Mormonism right there.
I'll be a God one day.
I will be like the most high, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit.
Look, nobody is going to burn in hell more than the devil.
You say why?
Nobody has exalted themselves.
The higher you exalt yourself, the more you're going to be brought down.
I want you to understand that if I brought my son up here today, you know, my son's less
than two years old, and so obviously, you know, at that age, you know, you're very careful
with your kids in case they fall and get hurt.
They can get hurt very easily.
If I were to drop my son from this high in the air, it would hurt him.
He would cry.
It would hurt him.
But let's say, for example, I dropped him from this high in the air.
It's going to hurt him a little bit more, right?
You say why?
Because you accelerate at 9.8 meters per second squared, I think is, if I remember correctly.
You accelerate at a certain speed, and as you're higher in the air, you're going to
basically fall further.
You're going to have more speed when you hit the ground, and the faster you're going
when you hit the ground, it's going to hurt more.
Okay?
You say I don't believe you.
Okay?
Well, try this out.
Go on a plane and use a parachute the first time.
The next time, don't use a parachute.
You'll be going much faster, and then you're going to be dead.
Okay?
See, the higher you fall, the more it's going to hurt.
What you have to realize is the higher you exalt yourself, the more you get lifted up
full of pride, the more you're going to come down.
The more it's going to hurt, the more you're going to be destroyed.
Okay?
Nobody has ever lifted themselves up higher than the devil.
Nobody's going to be destroyed more.
Now, many countries become arrogant.
Countries all over the world, they become powerful.
You think of various countries that have ruled the world, so to speak.
At one point, England used to rule the world for the most part.
They were the most powerful country.
France, Germany, all these countries.
But you know, those countries are still around today.
Edom's not around.
Now, I promise you, those countries became very arrogant.
But Edom was destroyed because they were more arrogant.
The pride of Edom, Edom was worse than those countries.
Okay?
Assyria is another example.
Assyria was destroyed.
The Bible speaks about Nineveh being destroyed because they were more arrogant and because
they lifted themselves up higher.
See, here's the thing.
If I fall from 20 feet in the air, it's going to hurt, but it probably won't kill me.
Probably won't.
If I fall from 200 feet in the air, it will kill me.
See, I want you to understand that some certain countries have lifted themselves up, but not
high enough where you reach the point of terminal velocity and you die when you hit the ground.
But Edom did lift themselves up that high.
Turn to Obadiah, Obadiah.
And in the book of Obadiah, and I should have said this earlier, but what you might want
to do, because we're going to be going from Obadiah to Jeremiah 49, Obadiah to Jeremiah
49.
You might want to put a bookmark or a finger or something in there to keep your spot.
We're looking at a lot of scripture here tonight.
But Obadiah chapter 1 verse 5, if thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, how art
thou cut off?
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
Now when you just read over this, it might sound confusing, but let me explain to you
what he's saying here.
He's talking about a thief or robber coming in the middle of the night.
And what it says is, would they not have stolen till they had enough?
I want you to understand that if somebody robs a house, they don't take everything.
They'd steal until they have enough.
Just a month ago, when somebody tried to break into our place here, my first thought was,
if they had broken in, I'd think about the speakers, the air conditioning units.
I'd think about the expensive things.
You know what I wouldn't worry about being stolen?
I wouldn't worry about the plastic cups being stolen.
I wouldn't worry about the napkins being stolen.
You say, why?
They don't have much value.
I'd be worried about, it's like, oh, you know, they broke in, all they stole was two plastic
cups.
It's like, then we dodged a bullet there, okay?
They're going to steal stuff that is expensive, stuff that has value, okay?
When a robber breaks in, they don't take everything, okay?
Here's what he's trying to say, eat them, you're completely destroyed though.
It would be like a robber coming in here and taking every single thing, all the plastic
cups, all the plastic forks, all the plastic spoons, every single thing.
The papers on the wall with our Pampanga preaching schedule, everything would be taken.
That's the analogy he's giving here.
He mentions, the grape gatherers coming to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
And see, when the grape gatherers would gather up the grapes, they did not take all the grapes.
And they were told not to.
What they would do is take the best grapes.
They would leave the rest, and the poor of the land would work to basically gather up
the rest, and they had food to eat.
The grape gatherers were told not to take everything, and they would take the ones that
were valuable, and they'd leave certain areas for the poor of the land.
They're not going to take the shriveled up grapes, okay?
But he's saying, if you eat them, it's a little bit different.
Those shriveled up grapes, those plastic forks, those plastic knives, it's all going to be
gone.
It's going to be 100% going to be destroyed.
It says in verse number six, how are the things of Esau searched out?
How are his hidden things sought out?
You see, when it comes to things that are valuable, valuable things you usually put
in a place where they can't be found or stolen, okay?
If you have something of value, you know, when you're walking down the street, if you
have a wallet, you're going to try to put it in a place where you don't think it can
be stolen, okay?
Because you're worried it might be stolen.
Things that don't have value, you don't really care about that much, okay?
If I was holding a piece of paper, you know, and I was holding out like this, I'm not really
too concerned.
But if I was holding out like 50,000 pesos like this, just walking down the street, I'd
be a little bit concerned somebody would take that, okay?
But what he says here in verse six, how are the things of Esau searched out?
So all of those hidden things that would be inside a house if a robber were to come, the
robber's going to get those things too.
All the things in the safe with that special code that nobody can break, it's going to
be broken.
And your hidden money, your hidden gun, your hidden whatever, your hidden jewelry is going
to be taken.
How are the things of Esau searched out?
How are his hidden things sought up?
He's using very strong language to say every part of Edom was destroyed.
Every single part.
Back to Jeremiah 49, Jeremiah 49.
And you have to think in terms of a country, because that's what it's talking about, when
countries go to war and one country gets completely obliterated, they're not 100% destroyed.
Very rarely would they be 100% destroyed.
Here's an example where they are 100% destroyed.
They're just completely annihilated.
They're gone.
They're just taken over.
It's a very rare thing.
You think of Assyria and Nineveh.
You think of Edom.
It's not really a very common thing.
In secular history, Alexander the Great, when they conquered the Persian Empire in Persepolis,
he just burned it to the ground.
But it's not really a very common thing.
Jeremiah 49, verse 10.
Remember, this is parallel with Obadiah.
But I have made Esau bare, verse 10, Jeremiah 49, verse 10.
I have uncovered his secret places.
So all of those secret, hidden places, and he shall not be able to hide himself.
His seat is spoiled, and his brethren and his neighbors, and he is not.
So all the hidden places, all the secret places, it's all being destroyed.
Think about if somebody came to conquer this country.
Let's say that China just came and just started war with us, and they just took over.
You've got to think about what areas would China come to and destroy.
They're going to come to the big cities.
They're going to come to Manila.
They'll take Manila.
They'll take Pampanga.
But there are certain areas in this country that are kind of just away from everything,
and just kind of hidden.
In the US, where my parents live, and where my grandmother lives, they kind of live away
from most people.
They kind of have their own house up on the hill, where if somebody were to come and conquer
Pennsylvania, that's like the last place they would come.
Usually what would happen in society when countries go to war, they would basically
take the big cities and control everything, and the rest of the people would be left to
be assimilated into the culture.
And if China were to take over, basically the Filipinos would start to become more Chinese.
All the schools would teach in Chinese, and they'd eventually, their kids would eventually
forget Tagalog, Filipino, whatever their languages would be.
And eventually they'd be learning Chinese.
They'd be basically away from it because they're not in the big city.
But now with Edom, all the hidden places, even that house up on the hill a long ways,
it's going to be destroyed.
Every single part of it, every single thing is going to be sought up.
It's going to be searched.
All the hidden things are going to be destroyed.
He shall not be able to hide himself.
Even if you're in the most rural area, away from the city, you're going to have somebody
come after you.
Now here in Manila, obviously we're very packed, but there's plenty of places in the
Philippines that are away from everything.
But he's saying every bit of Edom is going to be destroyed.
His seed is spoiled, and his brethren and his neighbors, and he is not.
Verse 13, verse 13, for I've sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a
desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual
wastes.
And he talks about how Bozrah is going to be destroyed.
Now, there's no way from the Bible to tell what Bozrah is referring to, as far as I know.
I looked it up.
There's no indication.
What I read people say was it was like a religious city with the religious spiritual leaders.
That could be true.
I don't know.
The Bible doesn't tell us.
But it's still referring to Edom here.
This is only three verses later.
So this is a big city we would presume, or a powerful city in the country of Edom.
And Bozrah is going to become a desolation.
So all of their big cities, it's a reproach, it's a waste, it's a curse.
People are going to say it's the border of wickedness.
God hates this country.
That's what they're going to say about it.
Verse 17, also Edom shall be a desolation.
Everyone that goeth by it shall be astonished.
They're going to be shocked.
What in the world happened to Edom?
They were so powerful.
It would be like people going to the United States next year.
It's like, what happened to the United States?
It's gone.
It's destroyed.
There's nothing there.
It's just all burned up and destroyed.
The United States used to be the most powerful country in the world.
It's a desolation.
That's what's happening here with Edom.
It says they'll be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
All these plagues are coming to destroy this country.
They're going to be amazed by this.
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the
Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
And so God says, no, you're not rebuilding it.
And the lineage that came from Esau, they could try to rebuild it, it was not getting
rebuilt.
Turn to Obadiah.
So why exactly was Obadiah destroyed?
Well, one of the big things is due to their pride.
That's what it mentions quite early on.
Now, pride leads to bigger sins.
That's the start of it.
Even in Sodom and Gomorrah, because people say Sodom and Gomorrah, they weren't destroyed
for being Sodomites.
God doesn't hate Sodomites that much.
It was just because they were prideful.
Pride was the start of it.
But they got destroyed once the wickedness came.
And with Edom, pride was the start, and then they became wicked, and then they're destroyed.
Pride is what started the problem.
Obadiah 1 verse 7, all the men of thy Confederacy have brought thee even to the border.
The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee.
They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee.
There is none understanding in him.
And the Bible talks about those that were at peace with you.
In countries, you have peace treaties with various countries, you have good relationships
with various countries.
It would be like if you're really close to another country, you trust them, but they
deceived you.
They lied to you.
And they basically don't even care about you now.
And see, that is what will happen with the United States, because I do believe it's the
end times Babylon, but all these countries that seem to like the United States, and they've
eaten of your bread, you're outsourcing all of your stuff and making so much money off
them, and they seem like they're your friend, but they're deceiving you.
That's what's happening to Edom.
And it says in verse number 8, Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy
the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the Mount of Esau?
And thy mighty men, O team, and shall be dismayed to the end, that every one of the Mount of
Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
What did it say?
Everyone.
It's getting completely destroyed.
Why, though?
Verse 10, For thy violence against thy brother Jacob's shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt
be cut off forever.
Now you have to understand here, it's not that Jacob or Israel, the land, was just such
a special place.
How dare you attack this land?
What it's referring to is the spiritual side, okay?
And you have to understand, they attacked Jacob.
That's where God's people were, okay?
It'd be like if a country is, by and large, a Christian country, or believes on Jesus,
is a godly country, which is kind of hard to imagine, and then they came and attacked
that country.
This is basically wicked people attacking believers.
That's the application that we make, because it goes back and forth between countries and
the individual, and they're attacking Jacob, thy brother Jacob, why, spiritually Jacob
was different, okay?
And the lineage that came from Jacob, the Israelites, they were godly, at least as godly
as anyone else on the planet, and the lineage that came from Esau were the Edomites, and
they were wicked.
This would be even like today, when wicked people hate us and persecute us.
Say, how does God feel about wicked people that would mock us and criticize us, or 500
sodomites protesting your church in California?
Well, this verse would tell us.
Those people God hates.
Remember, Esau have I hated, not the individual.
The lineage, because the lineage became wicked and rejected the God of the Bible.
And so when it comes to these wicked people, these reprobates, God hates these people.
He likes believers.
He hates the reprobates.
And look, when the reprobates try to persecute us, and they hate us, and they go against
the God we believe in, and they mock us with their wickedness and their sin, God hates
it.
Turn to Galatians chapter 4.
Galatians chapter 4.
And what you're going to see throughout the Bible is that all false religions will persecute
true religion.
All false religions will persecute true religions.
If they're not saved, they're going to persecute, okay?
Now I want you to understand that we can go throughout human history, and especially
as being in a Catholic country, we think of the Catholic Church because for 1,000 years,
just murdered tens of millions of people, 50 million people, nobody has any idea how
many.
But we can agree it was a lot of people, that they just murdered and tortured and killed.
And you say, why did the Catholic Church do that?
Because they had the power.
They owned the world.
What if the Buddhists owned the world?
They would have persecuted and killed us.
You say, how do you know that?
Because in Galatians chapter 4, what you see here in verse 21, tell me ye that desire to
be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
I love that verse because people that are trying to work their way to heaven, sometimes
you want to ask them, do you not hear the law?
It's like, do you not realize what you're doing?
The law says you're guilty.
It's like you want to be justified by the law.
It's like, do you not understand all liars shall have their part?
It's like, why in the world would you cling to your good works?
Because you're such a sinner.
I mean, you're broken God's law, and yet they still want to be justified by the law.
It's like, do you not hear the law?
Do you not even get what the Bible says?
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond made the other by a free
one.
Now there's Isaac and Ishmael, and these were given as examples.
Verse 28, now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Isaac came, was it before or after the time of Jesus Christ?
Before.
The Old Testament.
And yet the same God of Isaac is the same God of you and me.
It's the same religion.
It's the same old time religion.
You say, I thought the old time religion started when Jesus rose again.
The old time religion started with Adam and Eve, because Adam and Eve, it started when
they sinned, an animal had to be slain.
That's the way it's always been.
That's why God rejected Cain, and he loved Abel.
Okay?
Because Cain became a reprobate, as we talked about in the last couple of weeks.
But we have the same God that Isaac had.
Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now.
It's always been that way.
In the Old Testament, those born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit.
Now obviously, the Jews are probably the best application of this, because they killed the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And if Jews had the power now, then they would persecute us, just like the Catholic
Church has, and they are very powerful.
But I want you to realize that any false religion would do this.
If you go to India, okay, because in India, you don't read these stories much, because
they kind of hide this from the news, but in India, you can read stories about Hindus
torturing Christians to death.
But you never hear about that, because Fox News likes to tell us about the Muslims.
It's like there are other false religions in this world that are persecuting and murdering
Christians.
And I promise you, any area that has the power, that is what would take place.
That doesn't mean all their members are reprobates, because very few of their members are going
to be reprobates.
But the ones that have the power, the political power, the religious power, which often is
the same, those would persecute and kill any false religion.
Because you can go back to the time of the Catholic Church, and the Protestants did the
same thing to us.
The Protestants killed the Anabaptists.
The Hindus in India, that's what they do.
The Catholic Church did it.
The Jews have done it.
Look, any false religion will persecute and kill the true religion.
And just because they're closer, they're also Baptists.
The repentance of sin's preachers, if they own the world, they would murder us and crucify
us and torture us.
You say, why?
Because they're filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, and all that stuff.
If they're a reprobate, they're fully evil.
And so any false religion will persecute true.
Any false religion will do that.
That doesn't mean the average Catholic in this country is a bad person.
The leaders of the Catholic Church are bad people.
And the leaders of any false religion are bad people.
Any leaders.
And just about any political leader in the world is a bad person, too.
Just about any of the leaders.
And all the religious leaders, they are bad people, though.
And so, as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Even so it is now, and 2,000 years later, even so it is now as well.
Turn back to Obadiah.
Now I want you to understand that as we start to get to the middle of this chapter, and
the last half of this chapter will go a little bit quicker, as we start to get to the middle
of this chapter, there starts to be a lot of symbolism with prophetic events.
And when it comes to the minor prophets, obviously, you know, oftentimes, because they have a
dual meaning.
They have an actual meaning.
There is literally an Edom, but they also give you kind of an end times example of things.
And I want you to understand the end times example, people can have different opinions,
and it can be confusing on some of the verses.
What exactly is it talking about?
What sort of things and analogies are we supposed to draw from it?
But I think as we've seen today, there's still a lot of stuff on the surface in these books.
And so don't shy away from reading the minor prophets or the major prophets.
All the Bible's good.
All of it is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction, righteousness.
All of it has great, great information.
But as we get to the middle of this chapter, we're starting to get a lot of symbolism here.
Verse 11, in the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers
carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon
Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
And so this is what he's saying about Edom, and he's saying that Edom stood on the other
side, and the strangers carried away captive his forces.
And it says foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem.
So it's talking about basically as they're harming God's people.
It says foreigners entered into his gates.
This is entering into your gate.
Your gate would be basically like the front part of your city.
And so once you storm through the gate, you're basically declaring war on that city.
That's how it used to work when kingdoms would fight each other.
You would basically have your protected wall, your gate, and when somebody breaks through,
they're about to destroy you.
Because usually, you know, you'd have that up as a guard, and you would try to prevent
them from entering into your gate and coming into your kingdom.
And it's saying that they entered into the gates.
This is when they're destroying Jerusalem, this is when they're destroying God's people,
and cast lots upon Jerusalem.
When it says cast lots upon Jerusalem, what I think of is that parts of Jerusalem are
being taken, and they're casting lots to determine who gets what part.
If there's like 50 areas in Jerusalem, we all cast lots, and it's like, okay, you got
this area, now you own this part.
Basically they're destroying God's people and basically just casting lots to determine
what they get.
Okay?
And it says, entered into his gates, cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one
of them.
So Edom was one of these people that was doing this.
This is not the only one, but Edom was one of them.
Verse number 12.
Now a spiritual application though, remember, thinking of God's people versus reprobates,
it would be basically like reprobates are trying to cast lots on us.
Basically we've hit a low point, they're taking over, and they're basically just talking about
how they're going to destroy us or whatever.
Okay?
Now I actually turned to Zephaniah 3.
I want to show you something, and I posted about it earlier, but something I learned
in the Bible here today, and it's pretty interesting, and I want to show it to you here.
As I said, this is going to be a long sermon.
Zephaniah chapter 3.
And I want you to see this here in verse number 8.
It says, therefore, weigh ye upon me.
Zephaniah chapter 3.
Zephaniah chapter 3, in your mind of prophets.
Therefore weigh ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey.
For my determination is to gather the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour
upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured
with the fire of my jealousy.
Now it mentions here, until the day that I rise up to the prey.
Okay?
Now I want you to go back to verse number 3.
Verse number 3 to understand the context.
Her princes within her are roaring lions, her judges are evening wolves.
Okay?
Now I want you to understand it's referring to lions and judges, and a symbolism here
is with bad people, reprobates, they're referred to sometimes as lions or wolves.
And I want you to realize that usually you think of a lion as being the predator.
Okay?
The prey is what is destroyed.
The predator is the one hunting the prey.
You usually think of a lion being a predator, you think of a wolf being a predator, but
I want you to notice in verse 8, it says, wait upon me, saith the Lord.
Therefore, wait upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey.
God's referring to lions and wolves as prey, not as predators.
You say why?
Because the lions and wolves would hunt us, and wicked people want to hunt us and destroy
us, but what they don't realize is God is going to hunt them and destroy them.
They think they're the predators, they think they're going to destroy us, but according
to Zephaniah 3, verse 8, they're the prey.
They're not the predators because there's a bigger fish that's out there going to destroy
them.
It would be like, for example, if there's like a big fish that's coming after a small
fish and he's about to get him, and then all of a sudden this other big fish comes from
behind and boom, destroys him.
That's what it is with the wicked people.
That's what it is with the reprobates.
They're not the predators.
They could be a lion, they could be a wolf, they talk a big game, they have the political
power.
They're really powerful, they own the world.
No one can bring them down.
Why?
Because the rest is in the stars.
I'm so powerful, I'm so rich, and you don't realize you're the prey, and God's going to
destroy you.
Now turn back to Obadiah.
Turn back to Obadiah, and so look, they can cast lots upon Jerusalem.
They can cast lots against us and think they're all powerful and destroy us.
They're the prey though.
They're not the predator according to the Bible.
I want you to see here in verse number 12, verse 12, but thou shouldest not have looked
on the day of thy brother and the day that he became a stranger.
Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction.
He's saying that they rejoiced at seeing God's people destroyed.
They were happy when God's people were destroyed.
Do you realize these false religions would love to find out that this church is closing
its doors?
They would love it if some accident happened and I was dead tomorrow.
They would love it if that happened.
People that are wicked false prophets, they want us to be destroyed, and here what it's
saying is that when God's people got destroyed, they rejoiced over us.
Wouldn't they love to see Pastor Hermanus to drop dead?
All these people around this world that hate Pastor Hermanus because of the stand he's
taken, because of what he preaches, they would love to see us destroyed, and they rejoice
over the children of Judah, it says.
Neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
Filled full of pride, they've spoken proudly about how powerful they are.
Now I want you to understand here though, it talks about the day of destruction.
It talks about the day of distress.
When you're familiar with end times terminology, it kind of makes you think about this.
Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5.
We're not really hitting too much of the end times symbolism here, but I do want to show
you something about this because you'll notice this throughout the Minor Prophets, it talks
about the day of the Lord, the day of destruction, it talks about these things.
I want you to understand that even through the Old Testament, you can see post-Trib pre-wrath
rapture.
And you can see it's not a preacher rapture, because what you're seeing in Obadiah is God's
people are basically the ones being hunted and being destroyed, and the enemy's rejoicing,
they're so happy, we're going to destroy God's people, and we're on the run, we're in the
great tribulation, and when they think they're fine, like Edom, then they're destroyed.
See, there is symbolism with the end times, and it certainly isn't symbolism for a preacher
rapture, because God's people are being persecuted, okay?
First Thessalonians 5 verse 2, I mean, that's what the whole book of Obadiah is about.
These wicked people persecuted God's people, and yet during the end times, God's people
won't be persecuted at all.
We'll just fly up in the sky, you know, God's going to rapture us, no, we're going to be
persecuted.
You're seeing that all the way back into the book of Obadiah.
First Thessalonians 5 verse 2, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as
travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
And see, this is the way Edom felt.
We're powerful, we're safe, we've got our nest up in the stars, and then when they say
peace and safety, they get destroyed.
They get annihilated.
The day of the Lord, the day of destruction, the day of distress, that is what you're seeing.
Now turn back in your Bible to Obadiah.
And so they're all excited.
We have our day, we're being destroyed, we're being harmed.
They're getting their day.
It's coming.
And in Obadiah 1 verse 13, Obadiah 1 verse 13, we'll quickly finish up here.
Obadiah 1 verse 13, thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the
day of their calamity.
Yea, thou shouldest not have looked in their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor
have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
Now it talks about the day of their calamity, it talks about their destruction, all these
verses.
Now I want you to understand something, that there's an expression, and it's not really
a true expression, but it is when you look at it from a spiritual aspect.
The expression is, you know, the night is always darkest right before the dawn.
That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
The night is always darkest at the opposite time of the day where it's its brightest.
In the middle of the night, it's at its darkest.
There's an expression, the night is always darkest right before the dawn.
Basically right before you see the sun, it's at its darkest.
Look, if you've woken up early in the morning, you know that's not true.
Because at five in the morning, it's already starting to get lighter, okay?
It's not at its darkest right before the dawn, but from a spiritual standpoint, it does make
sense.
Because during the end times, this is what's going to happen.
We're going to have our day of calamity, things are going bad, we're going through great tribulation,
and right when it's at its darkest point, boom, the dawn happens.
They're raptured, and they're the ones that are being destroyed.
And so I love the expression, but from a logical standpoint, if you're not trying to apply
to the Bible, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
But in terms of a spiritual standpoint, it is true that night is always darkest right
before the dawn.
And even in your personal life, when things are really going bad, oftentimes it's right
before things go really well.
It's always darkest right before the dawn.
Verse 14, neither should thou have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that
did escape.
Now, look, this is really wicked here what it's saying, standing in the crossway to cut
off those of his that did escape.
It's like a battle takes place, and somebody's running out of there to escape, and they're
not even fighting in the battle.
They're just being persecuted.
And some mom, some mom is trying to get away.
She's fleeing for her life.
She's trying to escape, and they're standing there to cut off or kill, because that's what
cutoff refers to in the Bible.
They're standing and killing those women as they basically flee.
This is literally what took place.
There's an end times spiritual symbolism and application, but there's a literal application.
And literally, they would kill the people trying to escape, a mom, a young child.
And look, countries have done this throughout human history.
When they take over another country, they'll kill women that are innocent, they'll kill
little children.
Someone's trying to escape.
They don't even have a weapon.
They're just trying to flee so they don't get killed.
Just let them go.
But they're standing in the crossway.
This is the only escape, and they're killing every single one who tries to escape.
Why did God destroy Edom?
Well, it started with pride.
But then look at how wicked they are.
They hate God's people, and the end is going to come for them.
It said they stand in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape.
Neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
And so there's a few people left in the area that haven't been destroyed, and they're
delivering them up to be killed as well.
You can see why God hates these people.
Verse 15, for the day of the Lord is nearer upon all the heathen.
As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee.
Thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
And it says here as it talks about the day of the Lord, as thou hast done.
So as much as we go through the day of calamity, the day of destruction, and things are really
rough, that's a good understanding of the day of the Lord and how they will be destroyed.
And so the day of the calamity was referring to us being harmed, but in verse 15, it has
a transition, as thou hast done.
So the day of the Lord, when they get destroyed, is going to be similar to what they did to
us, but worse, and they will be destroyed.
The day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen.
I mean, isn't it obvious from verse 15 in everything we read, though, that before the
day of the Lord comes, before we get raptured, before they get destroyed, we're actually
going through persecution?
Isn't that just very clear throughout the entire Bible?
Even though there's a direct application, when you look at the symbolism, how could
you walk away and say, pre-trib rapture in Obadiah?
It's like, what Bible are you reading?
As the day of the Lord is coming upon the heathen, we're going through persecution before
that.
That's what the whole book is about.
Verse 16, for as ye have drunk upon my holy mountains, so shall all the heathen drink
continually.
Today they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had
not been.
When I think about drinking upon a mountain, on a holy mountain, you're in an area of God's
people.
Let's say in a church.
Let's say a church gets, and I understand a church is just a building, but let's say,
for example, somebody would take over here and destroy us, get us out of here, and then
they're just drinking alcohol to celebrate.
That's what I think of drinking upon a holy mountain.
That sounds like what it's saying there.
Basically, they would come in here, destroy us, kill us, persecute us, and then they're
just drinking to celebrate.
Verse 17, but upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house
of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Verse 18, now realize as we're talking about the house of Jacob, this is God's people.
Yes, there's a literal nation of people that serve the true God during that time period.
The Jews are not God's people today.
We are the Jews today, spiritually speaking.
When it's talking about the house of Jacob, the house of Jacob is going to possess their
possessions.
Man, Israel is going to get their land back.
That's not what it's saying there.
That's a reference towards the end times, but it's going to be God's people.
We're going to be the ones dwelling in Zion.
Verse number 18, in the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Jacob a flame,
and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them, and
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it.
You think of a fire and a flame and you think of stubble.
You think of in 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about rewards, and remember there's gold,
silver, precious stones.
The things you do that have eternal value, then there's wood, hay, and stubble.
What it's saying is Edom's basically stubble.
It's just that stuff that gets burned up, and we're going to burn them up, the house
of Jacob, the house of Joseph.
Now I'm not saying literally we should go out to battle.
The only battle we should face is trying to win people to the Lord, but they are going
to be destroyed.
All these wicked people, and yes, it's frustrating seeing the LGBT just flaunting their agenda
everywhere, but those are the people God hates the most.
Those people will be destroyed.
They're going to be like stubble.
God's going to burn them up.
They're going to be done, and they can have their time on earth, their fun on earth.
They're going to live their 40 years and die of some disease, have their fun on earth,
and you're going to spend forever in hell.
That's what the Bible teaches.
They're going to be like stubble.
They're going to be nothing.
The house of Jacob is aflame, the house of Jacob is afire, the house of Joseph is aflame,
God's people.
Verse 19, and they of the south shall possess the Mount of Esau, and they of the plain,
the Philistines.
And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shall
possess Gilead.
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites,
even unto Zarephath.
And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sapharad, shall possess the cities of the
south, and saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom
shall be the Lord's.
Now, I'm not going to pretend like I understand all the symbolism there, but look, the book
of Obadiah, even though, and I don't think anyone does, when it comes to all this end
time stuff, there's stuff we don't understand.
What does this country represent?
But there's a lot of great information in Obadiah outside of the end times.
Yes, the minor prophets talk about the end times, but the main surface meaning is there.
And the main surface meaning is that Edom, the lineage of Esau, was wicked.
It started with pride, and they literally persecuted God's people.
They rejoiced in it, they were prideful about it, they even cut off people that tried to
escape, women, children, they destroyed and killed all of them, and the result is that
it made God very angry, and God said, I'm going to entirely destroy this country of
wicked people.
Let's close in with a prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and just getting to read
from the book of Obadiah, it's such a great chapter, and help us to just understand what
this chapter is about, and remember God, and also just some of the other stuff, the hidden
meaning God, the Bible is just filled with knowledge, we're never going to learn everything.
Help us to learn even more about the book of Obadiah, it's a great chapter, I'd love
to understand the symbolism towards the end, and understand what everything's referring
to, and have a better understanding of God.
But help us to realize as God's people, even though we are saved, if we get prideful, or
if we get wicked, we will be destroyed as well, God.
Help us never go down to the route of being a Demas, or a King Saul, or other believers
from the past, God.
Help us to serve you, and love you, and go soul winning, God.
We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.